title: On the origin of Tibetans and their genetic basis in adapting high-altitude environments.
abstract: Since their arrival in the Tibetan Plateau during the Neolithic Age, Tibetans have been well-adapted to extreme environmental conditions and possess genetic variation that reflect their living environment and migratory history. To investigate the origin of Tibetans and the genetic basis of adaptation in a rigorous environment, we genotyped 30 Tibetan individuals with more than one million SNP markers. Our findings suggested that Tibetans, together with the Yi people, were descendants of Tibeto-Burmans who diverged from ancient settlers of East Asia. The valleys of the Hengduan Mountain range may be a major migration route. We also identified a set of positively-selected genes that belong to functional classes of the embryonic, female gonad, and blood vessel developments, as well as response to hypoxia. Most of these genes were highly correlated with population-specific and beneficial phenotypes, such as high infant survival rate and the absence of chronic mountain sickness.
authors.affiliation: National Research Institute for Family Planning, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Binbin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yong-Biao
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hongbin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Xumin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Zhenqing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Haiyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jiangwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Panpan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Longfei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Duen-Mei
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological / Q000235:genetics*; D000531:Altitude; D000532:Altitude Sickness / Q000235:genetics; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics*; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000502:physiology; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000502:physiology; D018609:Tibet / Q000208:ethnology